Grandma May was confident in the grandsons she had raised with her husband. Her grandsons were definitely not petty people. They were broad-minded, ambitious, and big-hearted. The more tolerant a person was, the more fortunate he would be. Therefore, her grandsons were very fortunate people. “I made some desserts and brought them to Isabella this evening. I suddenly missed you when you were mentioned in our conversation.”Grandma May chuckled. “If that’s the case, why are you calling me now? Shouldn’t you have called me right away if you missed me?“No wonder I kept sneezing this evening. I thought I caught a cold and was about to make myself some ginger tea. Turns out you were missing me.”Austin was used to his nana’s way of speaking. He simply moved on and said, “I brought my future brothers-in-law shopping afterward. Their energy just wouldn’t run out. I got tired before they did. We bought a lot of stuff. With the number of bags I carried and the two boys following me
“I won’t. You can have a daughter with Isabella as soon as possible to test me.”Austin was speechless.He had not even held Isabella’s hand yet. Having a child would have to wait. Isabella was still unaware that she was his target. “You should urge my older brothers to give you a great-granddaughter instead. Isabella’s not even my girlfriend yet. Us having a daughter isn’t within the foreseeable future.”“You want me to miss you when you aren’t giving me a great-granddaughter? You’re a little shameless, Austin. I’m hanging up now. I don’t want to spoil my mood. Why am I in a family filled with men? Hah!”After complaining, Grandma May hung up before Austin could speak. He could not help but laugh. His nana must have known that he was making good progress, so she was not worried about him. Besides, he would be turning twenty-seven next year, which was not too old. Compared to Zachary, who had only married in his thirties, he was considered young. Also, Dylan and Peter h
Sonny replied, “I’m happy. Why do you have to work somewhere far away, Uncle Austin? Why isn’t your boss letting you rest? Doesn’t everyone rest for Christmas? Even my mom is coming back.”To Sonny, Liberty was the busiest person he knew. If his mother could be back for the holidays, he would think everyone could do the same. Little did he know that not everyone could enjoy holidays. “I have to earn money for my future wife, so I came to work at a faraway place. My boss pays me well. My salary is triple if I work on public holidays. I’m not resting because I can get good money.”Sonny hummed. He probably did not understand what Austin said. “You can talk to Uncle Zak. Aunt Ser is asking me to go to bed. Good night, Uncle Austin.”After bidding Austin goodbye, Serenity took Sonny away. Austin continued chatting with Zachary. Half an hour later, he heard someone knock on the door. He stayed on the call while opening the door. It was Dominic. “Ms. Isabella is back, Austin.
“Thanks, Ms. Isabella, but I prefer standing.”Austin was not being formal but simply aware of his identity. He would not relax before his identity in the O’Connor family changed or Isabella fell in love with him. He did not want to ruin Isabella's impression of him. “Sit. If you continue standing, I’d have to raise my head to talk to you. My neck will get tired.”Since she said so, Austin immediately sat with an upright posture.Isabella looked at him for a moment and smiled. “You sit like a soldier.”Austin also resembled an elementary school student who sat straight in class out of fear of getting scolded by a teacher. He did not reply to her comment. “I love the things Louis bought for me. You must’ve been tired after shopping with them for the entire afternoon. How much did you spend in total? I’ll return the money to you.”Austin said, “Mr. Louis and Mr. Philip are shopping experts. I got tired, but they seemed fine throughout. Nevertheless, I enjoyed taking them sho
The ones Phillip bought for Isabella and Tati would also be in the correct sizes. Austin rarely met the other O’Connor sisters or had not seen them before, so he would not know their clothing sizes. Therefore, the two boys were in charge of buying their clothes. The other O’Connor young ladies could probably get an exchange in the store if their clothes were of the wrong sizes. “Mr. Louis is clever. He has a good memory too.”Isabella said, “Louis is smart but too playful.”After a pause, she added, “However, he’s still young. Kids that age love to have fun.”“Playing is a child’s nature. There’s no need for him to take up heavy family responsibilities yet. He should enjoy his playtime to the fullest and study hard when needed. Studying shouldn’t take up his entire childhood. It’s okay to have fun when he’s young.”Isabella agreed. She taught Louis the same thing. She told him to have all the fun he wanted when he could. However, he also needed to work hard when it was
Isabella smiled. “I can give a set of jewelry to you if you want it. The jewelry Louis got me is made of gold. They aren’t that expensive, just tens of thousands of dollars. They’re still not as expensive as yours.”A set of her mother’s jewelry could cost up to hundreds of millions. Delphine took the jewelry box from Isabella and opened it. She smiled. “Maybe Louis bought these for you because they're gold and shiny. He’s still young.”“I never said I didn’t like what he bought.”Isabella loved Louis’s gift. “Since this is Louis’s present to you, I shall not take it. Seeing you two having a close relationship is the best thing I can ever ask for.”Delphine did not say that out of jealousy. She was glad to see that her children were getting along well. “Louis said they used Austin’s money to buy everything. He asked us to return the money to Austin.”Isabella said, “I’ll have Dominic transfer the money to Austin tomorrow.”“Louis and Phillip must’ve spent a few months’ wo
Delphine would get a headache whenever she thought of her daughter being picky about food. She was worried that no one would apply to be their private chef in the future. What would they do if Isabella got bored of Austin’s cooking?After a moment of silence, Isabella said, “Let’s not think too far into the future. For now, I’m satisfied with Austin. I haven’t gotten bored of the dishes he makes.”“He has only been here for a month. You might get bored as time passes.“Why don’t you extend Austin’s contract, Isa?”Isabella thought about it and said, “Austin is ambitious and capable, Mom. He shouldn’t be restricted to our kitchen. He hopes more people can taste the food he makes.“It’s good enough if he works an entire year. There’s no need to extend his contract.“If one year has passed and I have no intentions of hiring someone else, I’ll have to seek his opinion about extending his contract. I won’t force him to stay if he wants to leave and continue running his businesses.”
Austin waited till Isabella finished eating and he cleaned up before returning to his room. Dominic had already gotten off work. If any of the O’Connors required the staff members’ assistance, they simply had to speak into the intercom. The summoned staff would have to work overtime, but they would be paid accordingly.Isabella sat in the house for a while before heading to the garden for a walk. She had not strolled in the garden of her house for a long time.She was too busy. Even during some weekends, she would have to work to handle a few matters. Her mother often nagged at her for not resting during weekends and told her not to bring any work home. However, Isabella’s responsibility was heavy. She had too many things to deal with. She would usually bring urgent documents back home. Nevertheless, she was used to her busy life to the point she would feel bored and not know what to do whenever she had free weekends. Isabella preferred having busy yet fulfilling
Liberty smiled. “Not yet. Maybe you can continue sleeping in the car until the sun rises.“We’re home. Let’s get out of the car. Even if you’re sleepy, you should still take a bath first. The year is ending in a few days. The weather isn’t that cold now. I checked the weather forecast. It says it’ll rain a little on New Year’s Day, so the temperature might drop slightly.”Duncan sat up and touched his forehead. Indeed, there was some sweat. “It really isn’t cold. I’m even sweating.”Liberty did not turn on the car’s air conditioning. In that weather, it would be cold if the air conditioning was turned on and hot if it was turned off. Thanks to the wind, it was still cooling when the car was moving. However, once the car stopped, it became stuffy inside. Liberty got out of the car and went to the passenger seat to help Duncan. Duncan declined her help and insisted on doing it himself. Then, he held her hand and walked into the house slowly. After heading upstairs, he belatedl
Liberty did have a fatty liver back then. However, that was resolved after she lost weight. Indeed, having an unhealthy weight could bring about health issues. Purchasing plus-sized clothes was also a problem. Once she started maintaining a healthy weight, she looked fantastic in whatever she wore and often received compliments for having a great figure when shopping for clothes. Most people marveled at her healthy and youthful complexion. She did not look like she was already in her thirties with a four-year-old son. “Do you want to take a nap? There’s heavy traffic ahead.”Liberty saw a stretch of road highlighted in red on the navigation app, signaling slow traffic. “Aren’t most people on holiday and traveling? Why is the traffic still congested?”Duncan muttered, “Maybe there was a car accident.“I don’t need a nap. I’m energetic now. I won’t be able to fall asleep.”He was extremely excited. “If you think I’m too talkative, you can play some music. We can liste
Since Audrey would take care of Sonny, Liberty and Duncan were in a good mood as they exited the Stones’ residence. Duncan’s bodyguards were to return home instead of following him around. He had Liberty anyway. Besides, it was his and Liberty’s wedding night. They even left Sonny with the Stones, so there was no way he would be letting his bodyguards follow him home. Liberty was the one who drove as Duncan’s legs were still recovering. She would glance at him from time to time. She said, “You’ve been staring at me the entire night. Haven’t you seen enough?“It’s not our first time meeting each other. What’s there to look at?”“You’re beautiful. You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”Duncan was particularly generous with sweet words that night. To him, his wife was the most beautiful woman in the world. “I can’t get enough of watching you. I controlled myself in Aunt Audrey’s house because I didn’t want her to laugh at me. Now that there’s only the two of us,
Sonny asked Liberty, “Mom, is it okay? I want to stay at Grandaunt’s house for one night. Tomorrow, you can come pick me up and take me to Dad’s house.”After receiving a call from her former mother-in-law, Liberty had already asked Sonny after he woke up that morning if he wanted to stay with the Brown family for a couple of days, to spend time with his grandparents. Tomorrow, she would take him to the Browns.Liberty smiled, “You can stay the night if you want. Tomorrow, I’ll come pick you up and take you to your dad’s house for lunch.”She planned to call Hank soon and let him know that she was not taking Sonny there early in the morning, so the Browns would not have to get up early to wait.Sonny jumped up happily and said to Audrey, “Grandaunt Audrey, my mom agreed! I’m going to stay here tonight and play with Elias."With that, he rushed upstairs. Elias was getting cuter. When he talked to him, the baby would respond with cooing sounds, which was really fun.“Aunt Audrey, I
After a long while, Jessica finally asked, “You have swollen eyes because Liberty is getting remarried? You’ve lost your chance to remarry her.”“Jessica, I’ve never thought about remarrying Liberty. That’s impossible. I’ll wait for you to be released. No matter how many years it takes, I will wait for you,” Hank quickly explained. “It’s true that I’m upset that Liberty is remarried, but it’s mainly because of my son.“In the future, Sonny will call someone else ‘Dad’, and I’m not around him often. I’m afraid that one day, he’ll only end up closer to his other dad and not me, his biological father.”Jessica quietly looked at him for a moment before coldly replied, “If you have time, you should spend more time with Sonny. Even a biological father and son need to nurture their relationship.”“Who did Liberty marry?” Jessica asked. “Is it Duncan Lewis?”“Who else could it be? It’s Duncan. He kept Liberty close, never letting anyone else near her. Whenever any other man got close to L
Why was he crying? He knew the reason deep down but could not bring himself to say it out loud. Instead, he simply slumped over the steering wheel and cried his heart out. After he was done crying, he finally started the car and left the city hall, heading to the prison to visit Jessica.When Jessica saw him, she noticed his eyes were red and swollen. Thinking something bad had happened in his family, she immediately grabbed the phone and asked, “Hank, why are you crying? Your eyes are all swollen. Did something happen to your parents?”She still harbored hatred toward Olivia and Chelsea, hoping something would happen to that mother-daughter pair. Ideally, she wanted the old woman to face judgment in hell.Back when she stabbed Hank and Chelsea came to the rescue, Jessica felt she should have made sure to stab Chelsea to death. It was because of Chelsea’s incitement that she and Hank ended up like this. The two women had torn apart Hank and Liberty’s marriage, and now that Liberty’s
Liberty did not need them to push her husband. She continued to push Duncan toward the car, and only then did the bodyguards help him into the vehicle. Soon, the luxurious car carrying the family of three drove away from the city hall and merged into the street traffic, gradually disappearing into the distance.It was not until the car was out of sight that the car parked not far from the city hall slowly began to move.The driver was Hank.He would not stop Liberty and Duncan from registering their marriage and neither did he have the right nor the standing to do so. He had intended to take customers but had not received any orders, and without any particular destination in mind, he ended up at the city hall by chance, arriving before Liberty and Duncan.However, his car was parked farther away, and many other cars were occupying spaces near the city hall. After the divorce, Liberty no longer paid much attention to him and did not notice that Hank’s car was already there, waiting.
Liberty was his wife now.Sonny was completely confused. He had come here with his mother and Dunc. Everyone here was so friendly and smiled at them as they congratulated Liberty and Duncan. Why, though, did they not congratulate him?“Mom, Dunc is smiling so brightly. What’s so special about that paper? Mom, can I see it?” Sonny asked, looking up at Liberty, curious about what was so interesting about the marriage license that made Dunc smile so widely.Liberty glanced at Duncan and teased him, “Duncan, the corners of your mouth are almost reaching your ears.”“I’m happy. Very happy,” Duncan responded with an even brighter smile.The weather today was cloudy, though occasionally, the sun took a peek while sometimes it became overcast. Still, the power of the sun today certainly could not compare to the beam of Duncan’s smile.Liberty handed the marriage license to Sonny to view.Sonny eagerly took it and started reading it. Some of the words he recognized, but overall, he did n
“That brat is already at that age and still doesn’t think about settling down. Every time we pressure him, he hides away.” When Audrey talked about Anthony, who did not want to get married, she could not help but feel a headache coming. Out of her three children, the one who worried her the most was Anthony.Serenity walked over to Audrey and affectionately linked arms with her, smiling, “Aunt Audrey, you don’t need to worry. Anthony’s a good man. When the right person comes along, he’ll get married.”“Let’s hope so—he’s not young anymore. Children are always a worry, aren’t they? There’s always something to be concerned about. What about Sonny? Why didn’t he come along?” Audrey asked. “Didn’t you come from your sister’s place?” “Sonny went with my sister and Duncan to the city hall. They said they wanted to go as a family of three,” Serenity replied.Audrey laughed, “Duncan doesn’t mind bringing along a little third wheel, huh? Well, that’s fine. They’re going to be a family, aft